1995 Maxima GLE - 84,100 miles. I love this car and the way it handles. I started hearing a faint, intermittent clicking noise in the front, as I turn the steering wheel. As part of a regular oil change they check it out. This is a serious repair shop, not a Jiffy Lube drive-through. Diagnosis: left front strut mount is deteriorating - the noise comes from the bearing in the mount itself. I believe the struts are original, I'm the 2nd car owner.
Their proposal and estimate:
- Have to remove the strut to get to the mount.
- Replace the mount.
- Once you've done this, and at this mileage, it makes sense to replace the strut itself.
- To do it right, you always replace both left and right struts at the same time.
- Then perform a 4-wheel alignment to finish the job.
Questions to the group:
1) This all sounds like a lot of work for just one bearing. Still it sounds logical to me - having done some smaller repairs myself. Does it also sound logical to you if "the job is to be done right" ? We're only talking about front struts.
2) Are strut / mount problems to be expected at this mileage ?
3) Total parts & labor, with lifetime warranty KYB struts, is ~ $780 + tax. Is this too much ? What would you expect to pay in your area ?
The only question I'd have is do you really want KYB struts? They are going to be stiffer than OEM's and some people don't like the ride these deliver. We offer either factory nissans or KYB and yes at that milage not replacing the struts while doing this job doesn't make sense. Actually if the strut mount on one side is blown, how long is the other going to last?
I assume this noise is irritating? If not, it probably isn't hurting anything to wait and think about it for a while.
It sounds like they are running up the price for revenue reasons. Yes, if you replace one strut on an older car, you should replace the one on the other side as well. But - you haven't given any good reason why the strut needs to be replaced, other than it's convenient for the garage.
I have experienced the right front strut mount failing at 83,000 miles on a '96 i30 and the right front strut mount failing on a '97 i30t at 65000 miles. (i30 is the Maxima's other skin). It uses the same suspension. In neither case were the struts themselves bad and they did not need to be replaced. Both cars have been in use for 10,000 to 20,000 miles since the mount replacement and do not show any sign of needing struts.
Yes, the strut has to come out and the spring removed to replace the mount, but its not that big a deal of a big deal. Unless the strut is shown to be bad, it does not need to be replaced.
The parts to replace a strut mount run about $65 at NAPA, you can borrow the spring compressor from Pep Boys for free, and you will need the alignment checked after you put it back together ($40 at the shop I use). My total investment on the i30 was $120, doing the work myself. The i30t belongs to my daughter and she paid $280 to an independent shop (including the alignment, Dallas area) for the mount replacement, so $780 is in the ball park price-wise (including the price of the struts) for replacement of both front struts by a shop.
If your car has been handling sloppily otherwise and you think it is ready for new struts, then go for it. If the only issue is the failing mount, then replacing the struts is overkill.
Just had two rear struts replaced on a 95 Maxima. One was leaking, quite obvious and the boots were ripped. The other was replaced to balance out the new units. The car then had a four wheel alignment, which brought the steering wheel back to a central position.
Aligning the rear wheels did absolutely nothing to bring your steering wheel back to center. That is accomplished by adjusting the toe in equal amounts on the front tie rod ends. When the adjustments are equal on each side, the wheel will be centered.
The alignment is adjustable on the rear, and since you replaced the rear struts, you needed to do it. Hardly ever is the rear out of adjustment in normal use.
This guy is looking at replacing front struts because a strut mount is failing. There should be no need to touch the rear.
Sorry. I need to read over these things a couple more times before I hit "post".
The rear is basically not adjustable. The alignment procedure is to check all the angles and replace parts or bend things until you get it right. After they replaced your rear struts, they should have checked to make sure it was still in spec. If anything actually needed to be aligned back there, you would have either been advised to take it to a frame shop (for straightening) or buy more new parts.
Yes. Waayyy too much. Take your business elsewhere and don't look back.
Half of that, maybe less.
My '95 Maxima GLE is in the shop as we speak having these bearings replaced. My struts & springs are OK and I am not replacing them at this time. I am getting two new tires (needed for inspection), two new bearings and a front end alignment and expect the bill to be less than $400--half of that is tires (Eagle GT II). My car has about 97K on it and the bearings have been clicking for over 10K. I'm in a rural area - shop labor rate is $32.50/hour and these folks have been in the alignment business for something like three generations.
I considered the DIY route, and the local parts store had a price of $20 each for the strut mount bearings. From the looks of it in the Haynes manual, this is an easy job. The biggest problem (obviously) is the removal & replacement of the struts themselves.
In any event I am quite happy with the results, my car is almost like new again. I just have to replace a dying radio and get a rust problem fixed that the former owner caused in getting a cheap repair.
That's less than half the labor rate in the city, might be 3X that in a big city. That's probably why your cost is so much less? You can't compare costs without knowing where the person lives, that's why I didn't coment on that.
I live in Southern California - South Orange County to be exact. Labor rates are around $70 / hour. Of course this would make a difference. From the thread so far, the big differences would be if a) I do the job myself or let a shop do it; b) I replace the struts or not.
What's a reliable test / indicator that it's time to replace the struts (besides the mileage) ? I put ~ 9K miles/year on this car, most of it driving 8 miles to the office and 8 miles back, on well maintained roads.
The "bounce test" usually will tell you if they are OK right now. But it's kinda like do you replace the water pump when doing a T-belt? If you don't do it when you are right there at it and it fails later, you have to pay the labor all over again. Same thing with the mount that isn't blown out right now, if they replace that strut and not the mount, you have to take it apart to replace that mount later.
I'd say if you are happy with the way the car drives now and aren't going to replace both top mounts, leave the struts alone and worry about them later, maybe when the other mount comes apart! :-).
Definitely the least expensive way to go - but how much spare time do you have, how much is your spare time worth to you, do you have the tools/space/expertise required? This is at least a half-day job if you have a helper and all the right tools and you'll still want to pay for a front-end alignment when you're finished.
A pair of KYB AGX struts is going to be at least $300. They "list" for almost $250 each and I found them online for just under $140 each (plus shipping). So the struts are nearly half of your $800 estimate.
Like Steve T said - the bounce test is about all you've got aside from visual inspection. Are the strut boots still intact? That's as good an indicator as anything. If the boots are no longer intact, the struts probably won't last much longer anyways.
If your struts are OK and you go with a front-end alignment instead of a four-wheel alignment, you'll spend a whole lot less than $800.
Disagree. For SoCal this is average. You all have to remember that
4th gen mounts have this bearing pack inside to allow rotation of the spring around it. These are way more expensive than they should be, but there aren't other options. I just have the exact same thing done in Long Beach, CA within the last year (only front-end alignment, though) and it was about the same. I don't go to a cheap repair shop, but it is a guy I trust and know he doesn't do what doesn't need to be done. I had the exact problem you complain of, same diagnosis, near the same cost. Fixed the problem.
Keep in mind that this is not an entirely necessary repair, but not an entirely bad idea.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.